# Playwright on the native process

> Install Playwright and Chromium on the API Maker server, run a custom API on the native process and turn HTML into a PDF with Playwright.

Source: https://docs.apimaker.dev/v1/docs/blog/General-Blogs/Playwright.html

First, log in to the server where **API Maker** is installed.

Make sure you’re logged in as the **root** user.  
Run the command below to check whether you’re logged in as root:

```bash
whoami
```

If the output is not `root`, you need to switch to the root user.  
Run the following command:

```bash
sudo -s
```

---

After that, run the command below:

```bash
npx playwright install --with-deps chromium
```

This will install all the required browser and OS dependencies for Playwright.

---

Next, navigate to the project root folder:

```bash
cd /root/projects/sava_api_maker/
```

Install Playwright as a dependency:

```bash
npm i playwright
```

---

Now, from the API Maker dashboard, create a **native custom API**.

To run the custom API as a native process, enable it in the **Custom API Schema** under the **Basic Info** section by setting:

```js
runOnNativeProcess: true
```

Below is the Image Reference  -
![Custom API configuration with runOnNativeProcess: true](https://docs.apimaker.dev/assets/images/internal_pages/custom-api-config.png)

Once the API is created, you can import Playwright directly into your API code:

```js
const playwright = require("playwright");
```

At this point, Playwright is fully available in your code, and you can use it according to your requirements.

---

Below is a simple example that demonstrates how to generate a PDF from HTML using the **Playwright** library.

```ts
import * as T from 'types';
import { join } from 'path';
const playwright = require('playwright');

async function htmlToPdf() {
  const browser = await playwright.chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  const filePath = join(__dirname, 'uploads', 'playwright.pdf');

  const html = `
    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
      <head>
        <style>
          body {
            font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
            padding: 40px;
          }

          p {
            font-size: 18px;
            color: #333;
          }
        </style>
      </head>

      <body>
        <p>Hello from Playwright (ESM) 👋</p>
      </body>
    </html>
  `;

  await page.setContent(html, { waitUntil: 'load' });

  await page.pdf({
    path: filePath,
    format: 'A4',
    printBackground: true,
    margin: {
      top: '20mm',
      right: '20mm',
      bottom: '20mm',
      left: '20mm',
    },
  });

  await browser.close();

  // `filePath` contains the location of the generated PDF.
  // You can use this path to upload the file to a storage provider
  // or serve it for download.
  
}

async function main(g: T.IAMGlobal) {
  await htmlToPdf();
  return 'pdf created on the server';
}

module.exports = main;
```

---

**Reference Links:**  
[Playwright Docs](https://playwright.dev/)

[Downloading Files in API Maker](https://docs.apimaker.dev/v1/examples/custom-apis/custom-api.html#download-file)